The lesser nothura (''Nothura minor'') is a type of

tinamou Tinamous () form an order of birds called Tinamiformes (), comprising a single family called Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes ...

found in lowland dry grassland habitats in subtropical and tropical regions of southeastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

.Clements, J. (2007)

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)

Habitats

The lesser nothura inhabits lowland the dry grassland habitats of subtropical or tropical regions at an altitude range of .BirdLife International (2008) This tinamou can also be found in dry shrubland and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. It doesn't seem to like recently burned grasslands.

Range

The lesser nothura is found in parts of southeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Clements, J. (2007) and recently in one location in east-central

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. It has been found in Brasilia National Park, IBGE Roncador Biological Reserve, and Taguatinga in the

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they ...

, Emas National Park and

Luziânia Luziânia is municipality in the state of Goiás, Brazil. This city is a producer of agricultural products including soybeans and beans. Location Luziânia is located 68 km south of Brasília and is part of the area, called Entorno do ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

and Serra da Canastra National Park and Serra do Cipó National Park in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

Itapetininga Experimental Station Itapetininga is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The population is 165,526 (2020 est.) in an area of 1790 km2. The name comes from a Tupi-Guarani language, meaning "dry stone".Itirapina Experimental Station in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, and at Laguna Blanca, San Pedro department.

Description

The lesser nothura is approximately in length. The lesser nothura is rufescent with a chestnut crown and yellow mottling. Its face is buff, shades of yellow on its throat and dark brown spots turning to streaks at its breast. Its flanks have brown markings and its underparts are chestnut with rufous barring, its wings are rufous with dusky barring. Its legs are yellow, and its bill is black, and it has brown irises.

Behavior

Its voice consists of long, high-pitched whistles. It probably breeds between October and February.

Conservation

The IUCN has classified this species as

vulnerable Vulnerable may refer to: General * Vulnerability * Vulnerability (computing) * Vulnerable adult * Vulnerable species Music Albums * ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997 * ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003 * ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...

due to the fragmentation of its population and the loss of its primary habitat. It has an occurrence range of and a 2000 estimate of adult birds placed it at around 9000, which may be a little liberal. The habitats inhabited by lesser nothura are being rapidly destroyed by

mechanised agriculture Mechanised agriculture or agricultural mechanization is the use of machinery and equipment, ranging from simple and basic hand tools to more sophisticated, motorized equipment and machinery, to perform agricultural operations. In modern times, po ...

, intensive cattle-ranching,

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees ( forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests ...

, invasive grasses, excessive use of pesticides and annual burning. By 1993, two-thirds of the

Cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are ...

region had been heavily or moderately altered, with most of the destruction having occurred since 1950. Farming, ranching, fires, and pesticide are the practices that have the most impact on this species. The lesser nothura is protected under

Brazilian law The law of Brazil is based on statutes and, partly and more recently, a mechanism called ''súmulas vinculantes''. It derives mainly from the civil law systems of European countries, particularly Portugal, the Napoleonic Code and the Germanic la ...

, and conserved in

Brasília National Park The Brasília National Park () is a national park located in the northwest of the Federal District and in the center of the state of Goiás, in the Brazil. The park covers an area of , with territory distributed by the administrative regions of Bra ...

, Emas National Park and Serra da Canastra National Park, IBGE Roncador Biological Reserve,

Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros) is a national park of Brazil located in the state of Goiás, on the top of an ancient plateau with an estimated age of 1.8 billion years. The park was created o ...

, using tape-playback. It was also proposed to identify other unprotected areas of suitable habitat in north-eastern

, north and west

, and

Footnotes

References

* * * *
Fauna Paraguay
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1262693 lesser nothura Birds of the Cerrado Birds of Brazil Tinamous of South America lesser nothura